Model Sophia Cahill on catwalk naked and eight months pregnant

London
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Sophia Cahill, "glamour model," and former Miss Wales, walked the catwalk eight months pregnant, completely nude, except for a hat, at the Welsh milliner Robyn Coles' debut show held in the White Rabbit Studio in Shoreditch, during London Fashion Week.

Cahill, native of Pontypool, South Wales, was "dressed up" for the show in a peacock blue hat with blue and maroon decorations. According to Cole, 31, also native of Pontypool, and whose show it was, "All the hats are felt for autumn/winter so they are ideal for winter weddings and races. Winter hats don't have to be monochrome."

Wales Online reports Sophia and other models, coming in all shapes and sizes, including a 50-year-old with waist-length grey hair, walked barefooted to Lana Del Rey's "Born to Die" with "apparent ease" in spite of the initial expressions of shock on the faces of the crowd.

According to Cahill, she agreed to take part in the show, in a bid to "empower single mothers."

Wales Online reports the model, aged 28, has a son aged nine, and is separated from her unborn baby's father. Cahill said she wanted to show that a heavily pregnant woman can be "strong and beautiful."

She said: “If I hadn’t have been pregnant, I wouldn’t have given doing this a second thought. I would have said yes, no problem at all. But your body changes so much when you’re having a baby and I was worried how other people would react seeing that – it scared me. I’m a single mum, and I’m really passionate about promoting the strength of single mums and that’s why I did it. Women can do anything they want.They should be proud of their bodies and a woman in a heavily-pregnant state is the most feminine state, it’s so beautiful, why should it be hidden away and covered up?”

The model admitted, however, that she had been nervous backstage.

Cole said she included Cahill because a pregnant woman doing the catwalk was an uncommon sight. Cole said: "She was one person I knew would be more than happy to get her kit off. I thought it would be nice she would be pregnant for the show. You never see that kind of thing in fashion."

It is questionable, however, that the best way for Cole to get her audience to look at her hats was with the contesting distraction of a pregnant "glamour model" completely nude.

But Cole, according to Daily Mail, said it was important to use models of different shapes and sizes, but admitted the main reason why they walked naked was publicity.

She said: "As an unknown designer you have to find ways of getting people to your show. I wanted to use different models and different sizes. I'm a big believer in that. With accessories like hats it doesn't mater what size or shape you are."

Cole had words of praise for her nude models: “The models had such an air of confidence about them. They did fantastically well. We’re all grown-ups, we all have bodies. I also wanted to show that accessories are the ultimate feel-good item of clothing – they can never make you feel fat.”

Wales Online says Cole would not confirm if her future shows would feature nude models. She said, "I've got loads of stupid ideas for next time."